Alito abortion memo [National Archives] News
Alito abortion memo [National Archives]

Samuel A. Alito to the US Solicitor General, Memo re: Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians, US Department of Justice, May 30, 1985 [advocating a gradual challenge to the fringes of Roe v. Wade, rather than an all-out assault on the landmark abortion ruling]. Read the full text of the memo [PDF] from the National Archives. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Uruguay ends military rule

On August 9, 1977, the military government of Uruguay announced that it would hold free elections in 1981 to return the country to civilian rule.

US and Britain signed Webster-Ashburton Treaty

On August 9, 1842, the United States and Great Britain signed the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, settling their dispute over the northern boundaries of Maine and Minnesota. Read the full text of the treaty, online from the Avalon Project at Yale Law School.